Dispositional mindfulness and perceived stress: The role of emotional intelligence

•Mindfulness was associated with lower perceived stress.•Mindfulness was associated with emotional intelligence.•Use of emotion mediated the mindfulness–perceived stress relationship.•Regulation of emotion mediated the mindfulness–perceived stress relationship.

The present study examined the relationships between dispositional mindfulness, emotional intelligence and perceived stress using self-report measures. We administered the Mindful Attention Awareness Scale (MAAS), the Wong Law Emotional Intelligence Scale (WLEIS), and the Perceive Stress Scale (PPS) to a non-clinical sample of Chinese adults (n = 380). The results showed that mindfulness was positively associated with four components of WLEIS, and negatively associated with perceived stress. Mediation analysis indicated that only the regulation and use of emotion components of WLEIS acted as mediators of the association between mindfulness and perceived stress. Effect contrasts showed no significant difference between the specific indirect effects through these two mediators. Implications and suggestions for future research are discussed.